. >> alison, i have no idea whether we'll get a fiscal cliff deal done or not. i do have a pretty good idea as to how we got into this gigantic pickle in the first place. >> now we've passed a bold package of tax relief for america's families and businesses. >> it starts when then president george w. bush initiated a series of tax cuts for all americans, but it's a deal with the devil. the cuts, which are politically expedient, but costly to government expire in ten years time. >> both houses of congress have now passed a package of tax relief that will protect the middle class. >> when it came time for the cuts to expire, the u.s. is just emerging from the worst recession since the great depression. so president obama agreed to extend the tax cuts for two more years in exchange for congress extending federal emergency unemployment benefits. those cuts are expensive. if they're extended by 2020, the bush-era tax cuts will be responsible for more than half the total national debt. democrats insist that taxes go up for the wealthy but stay in place permanently for